CORRIGE d'Anglais
France Métropolitaine - Section S - Juin 2003

QUESTIONS

There are only two characters in this text : the narrator and his friend
Chris

2. The area where the adventure starts has been abandoned for
about 100 years. Tick the right answer and justify it by quoting from
the text.Yes

"
A century before the upper valley had been well populated"
"derelict huts"

3. When do the main characters find themselves in the following
places ?Fill in the grid.

Places

Time

"One afternoon [...] was planning"

the valley

"one afternoon"

"...it would be safer [...] on the veranda"

the veranda

"that evening"

"In the days [...] and began to ..."

a shed

"in the days that followed"

4. Who or what do the underlined pronouns refer to ?
"Chris and I went to the valley" : the narrator
"the boat he was planning" : Chris
"we came upon" : the narrator and Chris
"sail in her to the west":
the boat
"we uncovered more of it" : the skeleton

5.What do the main characters find ? Tick the right answer.
the skeleton of a swan
a human skeletonthe skeleton of a great bird
a Melanesian boat

6. a. The two characters do not agree on what to do with their
discovery. Justify this statement by two quotations. (Focus on the
sentences from "We scraped [...] " to " [...] for a thousand years.").

The two characters do not agree on what to do with their discovery ;According to the narrator, it’s better to not move the skeleton
("We shouldn't move it") whereas his friend Chris thinks that its not
necessary to be so careful, as no one is around (that is to say, neither
police officers nor archaeologists) "Who is there to show it to?"

b. What decision is finally made ? Answer in your own words. (20
words).

They finally decide to take the bones and carry them to their house, to
fit them together, away from any danger.

7. Are the two characters scientists ? Justify your answer by
quoting from the text.No

"
The way we imagined scientists did"

8. "We worked on the moa late into the evenings".
What does this sentence imply about their task?
Explain in your own words. (20 words).

Their task was far to be easy and it demanded a lot of time, patience
and carefulness. They had to be very meticulous to succeed.

9. Analyse the feelings of the two characters at the end of the
extract.
Justify your answer by quoting the text. (30 words).

The two characters were very frustrated and undecidedabout the plan to give the bird its true shape : they thought
they didn’t succeed in fitting the bones together correctly.

Quotations: "We sat in front of
the skeleton""Are you sure you didn't make a mistake
with the numbering ?"